News SoundHound axes nearly 50% of staff less than a year after IPO SoundHound went public in New York in April 2022 via a $2.1bn SPAC merger
News Anton Powers named Head of A&R at Sony Music-owned Ministry of Sound Exec will report to Dipesh Parmar, President of Columbia Records UK
News BMG faces lawsuit over alleged unpaid royalties from ‘Uptown Funk’ BMG Rights Management is being sued by the heirs of The Gap Band members Robert and Ronnie Wilson
Analysis News After taking stake in TikTok parent, China’s government to snap up shares in Tencent, Alibaba units (report) China's Government is acquiring stakes in local subsidiaries of China’s tech giants Tencent Holdings and Alibaba Group
News Music livestreaming app Sessions, founded by ex-Pandora boss, quietly shuts down Platform was launched by Tim Westergren in April 2020
Analysis News TikTok offers cheaper ads in race against social media rivals Meta, YouTube and Twitter (report) FT report cites advertisers, industry bodies and brands
News Over 80% of Apple Music subscribers listened to Spatial Audio in 2022 Apple Music launched Spatial Audio with support for Dolby Atmos in June 2021
News Dr. Dre selling music assets to Shamrock and Universal in $200m+ deal (report) Dre. Dre reportedly nearing big-money music rights deal
News Revelator launches NFT payment infrastructure powered by Stripe Company will integrate the NFT service into its existing Revelator Pro platform,
News Bad Bunny, BLACKPINK and Frank Ocean to headline 2023 Coachella Other acts include Gorillaz, Burna Boy, The Chemical Brothers, Blondie and Becky G
News YouTube Shorts to split share of ad revenue between music rightsholders and creators from February 1 Shorts' revenue-sharing model replaces the YouTube Shorts Fund
News Universal Music Nashville Chairman and CEO Mike Dungan to retire Executive to step down from CEO role after more than four decades in music business
News Universal Music Group opens its first ‘music-based experiential hotel’ in Madrid Aside from a theater, the 130-room hotel also features a fitness room, an outdoor pool, a bar ampitheater, three meeting rooms, a two-level solarium, a rooftop bar, an onsite restaurant, an event space and a pool bar
News Sony Music settles trademark lawsuit over Future’s ‘High Off Life’ album Complaint was originally filed in 2020
News U2, The Killers producer Steve Lillywhite sells music rights to Round Hill Deal includes producer royalties and related rights